Atlanta Mayor Puts Out Welcome Mat for Illegals, What Will Nunn Do?

In an item partly discussing yesterday’s leaked Nunn campaign memo, which the Atlanta Journal Constitution calls a “massive blow” to Democrat Michelle Nunn’s campaign, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed makes it clear that “Atlanta has open arms to the thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children detained by U.S. authorities after fleeing Central America”.

The AJC also contrasts that with last week’s actions of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. Given Reed’s strong support for Nunn, which he reiterates in the piece.

Last week Gov. Nathan Deal sent a scathing letter to the White House over news federal authorities have released more than 1,100 unaccompanied immigrant minors to the care of Georgia sponsors. According to the letter, Deal said it was “unconscionable” that President Barack Obama’s administration failed to inform his office that the children had been placed in the state.

Reed, who is largely considered one of Georgia’s most prominent Democrats and prolific fundraisers, has pledged his support for Nunn and already campaigned on her behalf.

The next logical question that isn’t addressed in the piece but needs to be is, where does Michelle Nunn stand on the current hot button issue of illegal immigration? Is she closer to Reed, or Deal on the issue? She was all for a path to citizenship just one year ago this month. If the leaked memo was a “massive blow” for Nunn, how she navigates this issue could provide a fatal one to her campaign.

Geary next asked Nunn if she would have voted for the immigration reform bill that recently passed out of the Senate – with both Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss voting no.

Nunn: I’m not in the Senate yet, so I won’t go into the hypotheticals. I will say that I admire the senators that are working together, like Marco Rubio and John McCain, to work with our Democrats to get things done. I think the immigration bill is one of the rare examples where people are coming together for a common-sense solution. We’ve got the Chamber of Commerce, labor unions – we’ve got a lot of people saying this is a pragmatic solution for immigration challenges. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for deficit reduction….

Geary: What about a pathway to citizenship?

Nunn: I think the pathway to citizenship that Marco Rubio and others have defined makes sense. It asks people to go to the back of the line. It asks them to enlist in their tax-paying responsibilities as citizens, and to contribute and to wait their turn. There’s over a decade-long line before they get to enjoy the fruits of citizenship.